🔗 Share this article War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. Myanmar's military is conducting a phased vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Limited Vote Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of January. There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".
Myanmar's military is conducting a phased vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Limited Vote Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of January. There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".